Don’t Worry…

Lately, many of my ‘friends’ on pinterest have been pinning this one sign- Don’t worry because whatever you’re worrying about is going to happen or it’s not going to happen and worrying about it won’t change anything. Or something like that.

This happens to be very true, and it’s great advice… but really difficult to follow. Now is the time of the year where international teachers start the difficult and exciting process known as RECRUITING (cue ominous music). If you are not RECRUITING, all the exciting places that people start talking about makes you want to RECRUIT, just a little, no matter how happy you are in your current position. If you are RECRUITING, you start obsessively working and reworking your resume and cover letters, begging people for references, signing up to any and all recruitment agencies and websites and email prospective employers, whether they have positions for you or not. Then, you sit back and wait for someone, anyone to email or call you and request an interview. It’s really a lot like a sorority recruitment (Rush, to us old-schoolers). You dress up really pretty (via your resume and references), research the schools and jobs, interview and then keep your fingers crossed that someone wants you.

Sometimes, it is a good fit. Sometimes not. Sometimes one place wants you but you really want another place and you’re not sure if you should take the job at the first place, just so you have a job, or try and hold out. Recruitment fairs, which are basically cattle calls, are good and bad. The bad thing is you see your competition. Sitting at home, applying for schools online, you can pretend you are the only person who could possibly want or be qualified for the job. At the fair, it seems every other person does what you do, and has been doing it longer or better or has had more training. But the good thing about the fair is you almost always have a job at the end. If you don’t, then you’re in a little bit of trouble. Most of the time, however, it’s a stressful, anxiety-filled three or four days, but you walk away with a job.

Applying beforehand, you risk being offered something early. And then that whole do-I-don’t-I battle begins to rage. I like five of the seven things about this school… but I like seven of the seven things of another school… except that they haven’t contacted me, much less asked for an interview or offered me a job. Can I live somewhere that I never thought of living before, just to do a job I know I will love? Would I be willing to take a job I didn’t love to live somewhere I would love?